Shared hosting is known by many to be the cheapest and most accessible hosting type for a website out there. It’s cheap and is very simple to set up, which leads many website owners to choose this specific type.
However, as with all things in life, you can’t have things that are all positives without negatives. So in this article we will focus strictly on the negatives. Also, we will give a definition of shared hosting for those who have no clue what it is to begin with.
Stick around until the end if you want to find out whether shared web hosting is worth it after all.
What is shared hosting in the first place?
The name already gives you a hint about what type of hosting it is. In this case, it is a hosting type in which you share resources with multiple websites at the same type.
How it works, basically comes down to this. A provider will have a big server on which it will set up multiple clients on the same platform, sharing its resources in equal amounts. This includes things like bandwidth, RAM, storage and so on.
It’s not uncommon that sometimes there are tens if not hundreds of websites being hosted on the same server simultaneously. Yes, you head it right – hundreds of neighbours fighting for the same limited resources.
This already hints you at the possible disadvantages that come from this.
The main drawbacks of choosing a shared web hosting package
Limited available resources
One of the reasons why shared web hosting is so cheap is because of the limited amount of resources that you get with such a plan.
If you run a simple website like a blog or an online portfolio based on WordPress, you’ll probably won’t need much which will leave you pretty satisfied with what you got.
However, for ecommerce websites and even small businesses, you’ll quickly realize how much resources truly mean to you. In the case of shared hosting, there is simply too much stuff available for you to operate properly.
Slow speeds
Naturally, with minimal resources, you’ll be hampered in areas like speed and overall website responsiveness. This typically is the main complaint and disappointment that customers have with this hosting package.
Again, you might be fine in the case that you’re running a totally simple website for yourself and don’t need much, however as a business owner you should think twice about purchasing such a hosting package.
Since you’ll eventually grow, you’ll quickly realize that this package is holding you back.
Huge restrictions
Like we mentioned before, shared hosting is based on the principle that multiple websites at the same time utilize the same amount of resources. Either you or somebody else, however, may experience website growth, which will mean heavier traffic and more resources.
However, since they are limited, that can compromise other websites on the server. Let’s say your neighbor utilizes a bit more resources than the limit. This means that the entire server will slow down for all users.
If there’s a huge spike in resource usage, the website can even stop completely. You see, hosting providers typically implement task killers to prevent one website to utilize more resources than intended.
If you happen to experience more traffic, it can just stop your website in order to save the server for others.
Weak security
Another thing is the increased security risk with shared servers. If you’re neighbors get hacked or infected with malware for example, this increases the chances of your website being infected dramatically.
If a server itself gets hacked and goes down, so do all the websites that are on it. So, you’re pretty much operating in an increased risk area on a shared web hosting space.
While measures to isolate each website are constantly being implemented, the risk is still present in most cases.
Lackluster support
If you’re a website owner that needs some help setting your website up on a server and tackling issues that you might encounter. While yes, most hosting companies advertise themselves as having a great support team, that’s not always the case.
Shared hosting companies that offer extremely low prices are the biggest perpetrators of this. In order for your website to operate successfully, you always need a good support team.
This way you can rest assured if something indeed goes wrong, since competent specialists will either fix it or help you sort your website problems.
All in all
Shared hosting is very popular among website owners and it’s not difficult to see why. Such hosting packages are extremely cheap and simple to set up, however, usually, there’s plenty of risk in terms of security and stability when it comes to these packages.
Unless you plan on running a barebone website, consider plans with more resources or a very legitimate brand for hosting at least.
Based on information from hostens.com – a reliable and experienced hosting provider for businesses.
